Drop in support for ruling party
PARIS - French Industry Minister Franck Borotra failed to be re elected yesterday in the first round of parliamentary by elections in the Paris area that showed a drop in support for the ruling centre right.
Mr Borotra, who belongs to the Gaullist party of Prime Minister Alain Juppe, won 38.2 per cent of the vote. He will face in a run off Socialist Jacques Lollioz who polled 23.1 per cent in the Yvelines constituency.
In another by election, Socialist Michel Pajon looks set to regain the Seine SaintDenis constituency which his party lost in 1993. Mr Pajon, with 33.3 per cent, will face centrist Claude Pernes, 24.7 per cent.
